Petrified Forest National Park -- Crystal Forest Trail (4-15-17)

The Crystal Forest is one of those places you've probably heard of, and likely seen pictures of, but upon experiencing it first-hand completely blows away your expectations. Located in the southern portion of Petrified Forest National Park, the Crystal Forest (along with the nearby Jasper Forest), marks your entry from the north into the true heart of the parks namesake 'forest'. The Crystal Forest, which can been seen in its entirety by walking and easy 0.8 mile paved loop, contains one of the highest concentrations of petrified wood in the entire park. Stone logs of every shape, size, and color litter the landscape here. In fact, one of the most striking things to us was the extent and variety of petrified wood seen here. We had no expectation of such before visiting for ourselves.

Petrified Forest National Park is located in northeastern Arizona and is home to a fantastic landscape marked by desert buttes, mesas, badlands, and of course huge concentrations of ancient petrified wood. The park encompasses some 146,000-acres (230 sq. mi.) and was originally established as a National Monument in 1906 through the Antiquities Act signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Over the intervening years much of the parks infrastructure was built through the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Monument received National Park status in 1962.

Though rich in natural and cultural history, the main attraction of the park are the huge numbers of ancient petrified logs which literally cover the landscape in the southern sections of the park. These logs are actually fossils, remnants of trees which grew in the area some 225 million years ago. The cause of their formation is actually quite interesting. Back in the time in which the landscape here was covered in huge forests some of the trees fell in river channels and were subsequently buried in silica-rich sediments containing volcanic ash. Over the eons this silica ever so slowly replaced the organic materials contained in the logs and replaced them with quartz crystals containing numerous other trace elements resulting in what we call petrified wood. The colors of these preserved logs are a result of the types of the trace minerals which they contain. The bright reds, oranges, and yellows are primarily caused by concentrations of iron and manganese while blue and green wood is created by traces of cobalt, chromium, and copper.

So, come on along with us on a short but remarkably diverse and exciting walk through one of the more unique landscapes I've ever experienced. As always...ENJOY!

Starting the loop...the covered pavilion in the distance has some good displays explaining what you'll see on this hike. We should have stopped there first but didn't hit it until we were almost done...

Crystal Forest Trail

It wasn't more than a few steps in and we were already surrounded by some amazing petrified wood specimens...

Crystal Forest Trail

The sheer amount of petrified wood amazed us. For whatever reason we were expecting a far smaller amount to be more widely scattered across the landscape...

Crystal Forest Trail

Logs of all shapes and sizes lay haphazardly across the landscape...

Petrified Logs

Some of the larger specimens we passed, seen here, were a good four to five feet in diameter...

Crystal Forest Trail

The entirety of the loop is paved and it gains very little elevation over its length making this a great hike for pretty much anyone...

Crystal Forest

Looking back across the forest from the higher east side of the loop...

Petrified Logs

Some of the 'wood' almost looked to have been precision cut by a chainsaw. Here, bright red specimens tell of high concentrations of iron or manganese within the fossilized wood...

Crystal Forest Trail

As we neared the northeastern part of the loop the landscape began to become more characterized by deep gullies and steep slopes...

Crystal Forest Trail

Petrified logs lay scattered all across the valley below...

Petrified Logs

This was the largest specimen we passed on the loop. It had to have been over 50-feet long and was at least four feet in diameter. Unlike many of the logs around this one was a more yellowish color which is caused by iron oxides or manganese oxides...

Crystal Forest Trail

Climbing through the crystal forest...

Crystal Forest Trail

This log sports the whole range of colors typically found in petrified wood...

Crystal Forest Trail

Winding our way through the magnificent crystal forest landscape...

Crystal Forest Trail

Its hard to imagine what this landscape was once like, back when this was a lush forest cut by numerous streams...

Crystal Forest Trail

As we turned back towards the trailhead the surroundings became even more thickly covered by petrified logs...

Petrified 'Woodchips'

What appears to be sawdust and woodchips covering the ground is actually tiny pieces of petrified wood...

Crystal Forest Trail

Giant logs lay on a hillside covered in tiny petrified 'woodchips'...

Petrified Logs

Passing another impressive collection of logs...

Crystal Forest Trail

Another giant piece of wood sits alone against the desert sky...

Crystal Forest Trail

This big chunk was colored primarily in greens and purples rather than oranges and yellows. This shows that the minerals which formed this log were not iron but rather cobalt, chromium, or copper...

Crystal Forest Trail

This was, without a doubt, an experience unique in my days of hiking...

Crystal Forest Trail

As if to compliment the colors of the petrified wood, the surrounding hillsides also sported their own unique coloring...

Crystal Forest Trail

This is the view of the forest from the pavilion seen early on in the album. Displays here told of how this was, millions of years ago, a thickly forested and much wetter landscape. It also gave good info on just how the petrified forest has come to be, info that I've tried to put to use in these albums...

Crystal Forest Trailhead

A short walk, but a fascinating one. Petrified Forest National Park was amazing us beyond expectations and we couldn't wait to see more...